Monday, June 11, 2018

Historic Inn begins to learn new tricks

My wife and I bought our Inn in Bradford, New Hampshire two and a half years ago. We bought the old Inn with an eye to change it for the better - to retain it's charm, and sense of history, but also to improve it, modernize and improve her structure so that this old Inn would continue to be able to tell it's story for another 100 years.

Our Inn had gone through many changes since it began it's journey as The Pleasant View Farm in the 1890's as a summer escape for people coming up from Boston or New York by train. In those days, the train line ended at the Bradford train depot and you were brought to the Inn on a wagon, or by horse and buggy.

In the time we've been here we have been working to upgrade and strengthen the old bones of our lovely old Victorian. Where she had little or no insulation (basements/crawl spaces and walls) we've been insulating. Where she was so reliant on outside power, we've added 54 solar panels, we aren't all the way to the point were we can power the entire place year round (due to fewer sun light hours in winter) but for our summer months where the Inn's power usage was highest, we are now collecting enough energy to totally supply our needs. Just this month, we've upgraded our power systems, giving us greater flexibility and allowing us to covert all of our public rooms (dining room, bar, sitting rooms and parlor space from inefficient "window shaker" ac units to mini-split systems which will maintain a better temperature for our guests while running much more efficiently. Bonus points because these units also allow us to heat these same spaces in winter, and should help us lower our use oil in the winter, and can even be run in just a dehumidifying form which may replace the need for cooling on those muggy days of midsummer in New England.

By upgrading our power supply systems we also gained the extra "juice" to allow us to install charging stations for our guests electric vehicles. We now have two Tesla charging stations and a universal charging station which should fit most other automobile manufacturers electric connections.

We still have lots more to do, with a huge old Inn with 17,000 square feet of space and 12 glorious acres of land in the woods of New Hampshire's mountains we will never run short of projects! But we taken some enormous steps towards breathing new life, and creating new opportunities for not only the lovely old Rosewood Country Inn, but also for our entire town to begin to experience different - far more than the ordinary - life in Bradford, New Hampshire - Gateway to the Sunapee/Dartmouth area of the New Hampshire woods.

I assure you, there is more to come! Join us for a wedding, a murder mystery, story telling, or comedy all in the comfort of our updated spaces which still feel the comfort of a Victorian home!